Ruthven Castle aka Palace of Ruthven - The Lineage of Ruthven Clan - Scottish Castles

Huntingtower Castle once known as Ruthven Castle
or the Place [Palace] of Ruthven is located near the village of Huntingtowerbeside
the A85 and near the A9, about 5km NW of the centre of Perth, Perth and Kinross,
in central Scotland, on the main road to Crieff.

Huntingtower Castle is to be found just west of Perth,
not far from the junction of the A9 and the A85 Crieff road.

Its location is unspectacular, and the margins of Perth seem to be growing steadily out towards it.

But both the grounds and the castle are beautifully cared for
and what you find is a unique time capsule with a wonderful atmosphere.

Huntingtower from the East End West Tower Infill Between the Two Towers Steps Linking the Two Towers The Maiden's Leap

Huntingtower is medieval in origin
but has seen significant redevelopment during its colourful history.

Two families, the Ruthvens and the Murrays, made it their home and it also played host to royalty: twice to Mary Queen of Scots and once to her son James VI,
who was held against his will there
for ten months in 1582
during the episode known as the Ruthven Raid (see our Historical Timeline).

The Ruthvens held the lands from the 1100s to 1600.

One resident in the early 1500s was Katherine Ruthven who later became
Lady Glenorchy.

In 1600 James VI's patience
with the family finally ran out as a result
of yet more plotting against him.

As a result they were first killed
and then tried for high treason;
their lands were forfeited;
and even the very name of the place,
until then Ruthven,
was changed - to Huntingtower.

The property was later given by the Crown to the Murrays of Tullibardine.

Amongst the family's notable sons
was Lord George Murray, who played an important role in the Jacobite uprisings
of 1715, 1719 and 1745.

During the occupation of John Murray,
the first Duke of Atholl,
the castle became run down
and with the death of his wife in 1767
it was abandoned as a place of residence.

Roof of the East Tower

Roof of the West Tower

The North Side of the Castle

Decorated Plaster Above Window

Decorated Ceiling

Ground Floor of the East Tower

During the occupancy of
the House of Ruthven,
Huntingtower consisted of two quite separate tower houses built three metres apart, one for each of the sons
of William Ruthven.

Other buildings were set around the courtyard of the castle precincts.
Huntingtower today offers an interesting glimpse into the past, and holds some surprises for its visitors.

Entry is either by steps from the courtyard into the first floor of the Western Tower, or into the ground floor of the East Tower.
The West Tower originally had three storeys and a garret and was the larger of the two properties; what remains today is a spacious hall with traces of wall paintings and coat of arms still apparent in the west window recess.

The Eastern Tower was originally built
as a gatehouse but was converted in around 1500 into a residential tower house.

The first floor hall boasts a painted wooden ceiling and intricate painted plasterwork representing a bird amid luxuriant foliage.

This building is three floors and a garret, and on the second floor the fine 15th Century fireplace also survives.

It was in the 1600s that work was undertaken to link the two towers and make Huntingtower look more like a regular country mansion of the time.

This work was undertaken by the the Murray family, and the bridging work between the original two towers is clearly visible both internally and externally.

At this time the grounds still housed the ruins of an earlier great banqueting hall and these were still standing more than a century later.

The Murrays also developed significant formal gardens to the south and east of the castle.

Huntingtower also has a romantic tale to tell.

Dorothea, daughter of the first Earl of Gowrie is said to have leapt between the tops
of the two towers of the castle, a distance of 9 feet 4 inches,
in retreat from her mother as she was almost discovered
when visiting her lover in his chamber
(doubtless deliberately located by her mother in the other tower).

The mother was reassured to find her daughter in her own bed that night, and her lover alone in his:
but was probably less impressed when the couple eloped the next day.

To this day the gap between the towers is know as The Maiden's Leap.

Some castles' claim to fame is a resident ghost. Huntingtower is known more for is resident colony
of pipistrelle bats, who live here all year round alongside brown long-eared bats
and some rarer Natterer's bats

. An information board within the castle notes that bats aren't house trained, so evidence of their presence can be all to obvious.

On the other hand, it points out that even a small pipistrelle bat can can eat up to 3,000 midges
each night.

And if you see butterfly wings carelessly scattered around,
these are the leftovers of another of the bats' favourite meals.



http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/perth/huntingtower/

 

Ruthven Castle
aka Place of Ruthven
aka PALACE of RUTHEN Clan

Huntingtower Castle was built in stages from the 15th century by the Clan Ruthven family and was known for several hundred years as
the 'House (or 'Place') of Ruthven'.

In the summer of 1582, the castle was occupied by the 4th Lord Ruthven, who was also the 1st Earl of Gowrie,
and his family. Gowrie was involved in a plot to kidnap the young King James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots.

During 1582 Gowrie and his associates seized the young king and held him prisoner for 10 months.

This kidnapping is known as the 'Raid of Ruthven' and the Protestant conspirators behind it hoped to gain power through controlling the king.

James eventually escaped and actually forgave Gowrie, but after a second abortive attempt by Gowrie and others to overthrow him,
Gowrie was finally executed and his property (including Huntingtower) was forfeited to the crown.

The Castle and lands were restored to the Ruthven family in 1586. However in 1600, the brothers John and Alexander Ruthven
were implicated in another plot to kill King James VI and were executed.

This time, the king was less merciful: as well as seizing the estates, he abolished the name of Ruthven and decreed that any successors
would be ineligible to hold titles or lands.

Thus the House of Ruthven ceased to exist and by royal proclamation the castle was renamed Huntingtower.

The Castle remained in the possession of the crown until 1643 when it was given to the family of Murray of Tullibardine
(from whom the Dukes of Atholl and Mansfield are descended).

John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl resided in the Castle, where his wife Lady Mary Ross bore a son 7 February 1717.^[1]

The Castle began to be neglected and after Lady Mary died in 1767, it was abandoned as a place of residence except by farm labourers.

Today, the Castle can be visited by the public and is sometimes used as a venue for marriage ceremonies.

It is in the care of Historic Scotland (open all year; entrance charge).

The original 'Huntingtower' (now known as the 'Eastern Tower') was a free-standing building, constructed primarily as a gatehouse.

It consists of three storeys and a garret under the roof. Around the end of the 15th century a second tower (the 'Western Tower')
was built alongside the Huntingtower, with a gap of about 3 metres between them.

This second tower was L-shaped in plan and was connected to the Huntingtower by a wooden bridge below the level of the battlements.

It is thought that this construction was for defensive reasons: if one tower was attacked and taken, residents could flee into the second
and draw up the bridge between the two.

The space between the two towers was built up in the late 17th century resulting in the Castle as it stands today.

At the same time the number and size of windows was greatly increased, particularly in the Western Tower.

A great hall was built against the north side of the Western Tower in the 16th century, but nothing remains of it above ground
except a raggle showing the position of the roof against the Tower.

The defensive walls that originally enclosed the Castle (and probably other vanished subsidiary buildings) have also been removed.

Among the features of interest at Huntingtower are early 16th-century paintings which survive on the first floor of the Eastern Tower.

These include fragmentary wall paintings showing flowers, animals and Biblical scenes, and a largely complete decorative scheme on the wooden ceiling.

Among the designs are grotesque animals (including a version of the green man) on the main beams, and Renaissance-style knotwork patterns
on the overlying planks. This painted ceiling is believed to be the earliest of its kind to survive substantially in Scotland.

Minor fragments of wall-paintings also survive in the Western Tower.

Huntingtower is said to be haunted by "Lady Greensleeves", a young woman named Dorothea who was the daughter of the 1st Earl of Gowrie.

The legend states that she was in love with a servant at the castle and that the two used to have clandestine meetings at night in the eastern tower,
where the servants slept. One night the girl's mother, the Countess, is supposed to have discovered what was going on and made her way across the bridge
from the family's quarters in the western tower to the eastern tower to catch the pair.

Dorothea heard her mother's footsteps on the bridge and,
unable to return to the other tower by that route, made her way to the roof.

Here she leapt from the tower to land safely on the battlements of the western tower and so return to bed
where she was discovered by her mother.

The distance between the towers was several metres and thus she accomplished quite a feat in leaping the distance.

The following day the girl and her lover eloped and no records exist to tell us what happened to them.

A number of sightings of the figure of a tall young woman in a green silk dress have been seen in and around Huntingtower over the years,
usually at dusk but sometimes in full daylight.

Her appearance is said to be an ill omen and a forewarning of some disaster to come.

A traveller staying at Huntingtower in the 1930s is reported to have seen Lady Greensleeves in a corridor of the castle.

The following day he resumed his journey to Fife and was drowned when he fell from the ferry taking him across the River Tay.

A second Huntingtower legend concerns St Conval's Well, which is beside the road below the castle.
The water from this well is meant to have the power to heal, but those who go to collect it must do so in silence:
any word spoken on the outward or return journey renders the water useless.

Those who go to fetch water are also supposed to leave a small token behind at the well, such as a coin or charm.

The well is in good condition and to this day runs clear.

• Tales and Traditions of Scottish Castles, Nigel Tranter, Neil Wilson Publishing Ltd.
• Castles and Tower Houses of the Scottish Clans 1450-1650, Stuart Reid, Osprey
• Scottish Hauntings, Grant Campbell, Piccolo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntingtower_Castle

 

MY LINEAGE

You
Susan Lynne Schwenger
→
Lynda Mae Handy - Schwenger
your mother
Murray Bruce aka Muff Schwenger
your father
→
James aka Jim Edward Handy JR.
her father
Viola Mae Drury - Handy
her father, Daughter of Dr. George Walker Herbert Drury
and Eva "Effie" Teresa Kopitoski - Drury,
Daughter of Daughter of Michel aka Michael Kopitoski aka Kopitoskie aka Kopetoski aka Kopotoskie aka Kopitowsky - Born August 18, 1853, Died January 13, 1933 (79) Hastings County, Ontario, Canada
& Amelia Annie Musclow - Kopitoski - Born March 4, 1855.
Daughter of Johann Gottfried (John) Musclow and Emilie Caroline Friederike (Amelia) Schroeder
(http://www.geni.com/people/Michel-aka-Michael-Kopitoski-aka-Kopitoskie-aka-Kopetoski-aka-Kopotoskie-aka-Kopitowsky/6000000019146766436?through=6000000019147120061)
http://www.geni.com/people/James-aka-Jim-Edward-Handy-JR/6000000019146905159?through=6000000019146942179
→
James aka Jim (Ruthven) Handy SR.
his father
Ida Eva Morton Russell - Handy
his mother, Daughter of Robert James Russell and UNKNOWN Morton - Russell
→
Marion (Rennie) Ruthven - Handy - Satchell
his mother
Edward Handy
his father, Son of Charles W. Handy & Mary Gibbons-Handy,
Son of Benjamin Thomas aka Ben Handy Esq. (The Handy Circus Troupe & Astley's Circus)
and Mary Huntley - Grant - Handy - Catawba Tribe
Daughter of Chief Neil Huntley - Catawba Tribe
http://www.geni.com/people/Marion-Rennie-Ruthven-Handy-Satchell/6000000019148375081?through=6000000019148441265

→
Alexander (Thompson) Ruthven
her father
Marion Rennie - Ruthven

her mother
http://www.geni.com/people/Alexander-Thompson-Ruthven/6000000019148441265?through=6000000019148470347
→
Robert (Witherspoon) Ruthven, SR
his father
Margaret Thompson - Ruthven
his mother
http://www.geni.com/people/Robert-Witherspoon-Ruthven-SR/6000000019148470347?through=6000000019148326667
→
John (Henderson) Ruthven
his father
Margaret Witherspoon - Ruthven (1754)
his mother
http://www.geni.com/people/John-Henderson-Ruthven/6000000019148326667?through=6000000019148508371
→
John (Peadie) Ruthven
his father
MARY HENDERSON ( 1687 - 1747)
his mother
http://www.geni.com/people/John-Peadie-Ruthven/6000000019148508371?through=6000000008442250405
→
John (Hutcheson) Ruthven
his father
Marrion aka Marion Margaret Peadie - Ruthven

his mother
http://www.geni.com/people/John-Hutcheson-Ruthven/6000000008442250405?through=6000000008442287746
→
George (Reid) Ruthven
his father
Elspeth Hutcheson - Ruthven

his mother
http://www.geni.com/people/George-Reid-Ruthven/6000000008442287746?through=6000000019303156215
→
William Alexander (Clerk) Ruthven
his father
Isobel Reid - Ruthven - Birth: November 16, 1626
Daughter of James Reid
http://www.geni.com/people/William-Alexander-Clerk-Ruthven/6000000019303156215?through=6000000019148823054
→
William (Gray) Ruthven
his father
Marion Clerk
his mother
http://www.geni.com/people/William-Gray-Ruthven/6000000019148823054?through=5464384072600127910
→
Sir William (Halyburton) Ruthven
his father
Mary Gray - Seaton - Ruthven
his mother, Daughter of Sir Patrick Gray, 4th Lord Gray andMarion Gray
http://www.geni.com/people/Sir-William-Halyburton-Ruthven/5464384072600127910?through=6000000000701212674
→
William Ruthven, 2nd Lord Ruthven Castle
his father
Janet Halyburton, Lady Dirletoun Castle - Birth: circa April 19, 1503
Daughter of Patrick Halyburton, 5th/6th Lord Dirletoun Castle
and Margaret Douglas - Halyburton
http://www.geni.com/people/William-Ruthven-2nd-Lord-Ruthven/6000000000701212674?through=6000000000701212701
→
Catherine Gray of Buttergask - Stewart - Ruthven
his mother
Daughter of Andrew Gray, 2nd Lord Gray, Son of Patrick Gray, Master of Gray and Annabella FORBES-Gray
and Elisabeth Stewart, Countess of Argyll, Daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl and Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway
http://www.geni.com/people/Catherine-Gray-of-Buttergask-Stewart-Ruthven/6000000000701212701?through=6000000000405667308

William Ruthven, Lord & Master of Ruthven Castle- Birth: circa July 12, 1478
-Ruthven Castle, Perthshire, Scotland
Son of Knight and Sir William Brentford Ruthven, 1st Lord & Master of Ruthven Castle
and Lady Isabel Livingston - Lindsay - Ruthven, Countess of Brentford

http://www.geni.com/people/William-...64458449390117010?through=5464531324940037367

William Brentford Ruthven, 1st Lord & Master of Ruthven
is the 14th great grandfather of Susan Lynne Schwenger.

 

need help deciphering old script or old writing

 

John Ruthven
his father
MARY HENDERSON ( 1687 - 1747)
his mother

→
John Ruthven
his father
Marrion aka Marion Margaret Peadie - Ruthven
his mother

→
George Ruthven
his father
Elspeth Hutcheson - Ruthven
(HUTCHESONE)
his mother

→
William Alexander Ruthven
his father
Isobel Reid - Ruthven - Birth: November 16, 1626
Daughter of James Reid

→
William Ruthven
his father
Marion Clerk
his mother
(CLERKSONE)

→
Sir William Ruthven
his father
Mary Gray - Seaton - Ruthven
his mother,
Daughter of Sir Patrick Gray, 4th Lord Gray and Marion Gray

→
William Ruthven, 2nd Lord Ruthven Castle
his father
Janet Halyburton, Lady Dirletoun Castle - Birth: circa April 19, 1503
Daughter of Patrick Halyburton, 5th/6th Lord Dirletoun Castle
and Margaret Douglas - Halyburton

→
Catherine Gray of Buttergask - Stewart - Ruthven
his mother
Daughter of Andrew Gray, 2nd Lord Gray, Son of Patrick Gray, Master of Gray and Annabella FORBES-Gray
and Elisabeth Stewart, Countess of Argyll, Daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl and Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway

William Ruthven, Lord & Master of Ruthven Castle- Birth: circa July 12, 1478
-Ruthven Castle, Perthshire, Scotland
Son of Knight and Sir William Brentford Ruthven,
1st Lord & Master of Ruthven Castle
and Lady Isabel Livingston - Lindsay - Ruthven, Countess of Brentford

William Brentford Ruthven, 1st Lord & Master of Ruthven
is the 14th great grandfather of Susan Lynne Schwenger

 

The children of:



Mother of
John Ruthven, primus;

Anne Ruthven;

John Ruthven, secundus, Weaver in Glasgow;

Barbara Ruthven;

James Ruthven, Weaver in Glasgow;

Alexander Ruthven;

Alexandra Ruthven;

No Name Infant Ruthven;

Thomas Ruthven;

Archibald Ruthven

and

Duncan Ruthven

 

HERITAGE SHOWS:

Margaret Marion Ruthven (born Peadie)

FamilySearch Family Tree

Birth:	Circa 1696 - of Glasgow, Lanark, Scot.
Death:	Glasgow, Glasgow City, Scotland
Parents:	James Peadie, Anne Peadie (born Porterfield)
Husband:	John Ruthven
Children:	James Ruthven, John Ruthven, Anne Wodrow (born Ruthven), John Ruthven
Siblings:	James Peadie, John Peadie, Alexander Pedie